Simplifying the American tax system is an admirable goal, but that is not what we are talking. Trump didn’t match this up to anything else economically — you’ve got a $5 trillion hole in his proposal. His protectionism will be damaging to everybody, and much of this is a bad version of “trickle-down-economics”.

Fundamental point is that this is not a coherent economic program.

On Trump’s foreign policy:

Speaking of lack of coherence, I find it sad that the Republican Party has descended to the point where Donald Trump says he wants to be best friends with Vladimir Putin, a man with an expansionist policy where it has supported the Assad regime killing hundreds of thousands of people in Syria, which has annexed Crimea, and which is challenging the Baltic States.

Trump doesn’t know the difference between Syria and Iraq. He shows no knowledge of what is happening in Eastern Europe. So for him to base his policy on being friends with Putin and threatening to withdraw money from NATO, that is a responsible Republican foreign policy?

After decades, we brought countries together to agree to a plan to avoid destroying the plan. And Donald Trump is going to rip that up. He’s going to rip up the Clean Power Plan and not fund a single green energy project. He is going to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency. In effect, he has said, “I’m going to wreck this place.”

On immigration and Trump’s “Big Beautiful Wall”:

This was a sinister, degrading slogan to get votes. There are millions of people in America who have worked, raised families for years who would pay taxes if they could but who have an uncertain status.

Instead of dealing with this sensibly, Trump rips all this up. He talks about “deportation squeds” to sweep people out of the country

Is this what we have become? Once upon a time, we said the Statue of Liberty represented America — that was what was big and beautiful. Now Donald Trump says what is big and beautiful about my America is a giant wall so we can treat people with suspicion and hate.

I am an immigrant to this country, and I am an American. And I would never want to be treated the way that Donald Trump is promising to treat people who just want a better life.

Here you go — five minutes to assess the new President, those surrounding him, and a Top 6 List of what to expect.

Ah, Newt Gingrich — a blast from the past. A right-wing, red-meat Republican. Always known for domestic policy rather than foreign policy — which is ironic, because he is being tipped for Secretary of State.

And the List? Number 1 is “some form of tax cut”, but what are the rest?

About The Author

Scott Lucas is Professor of International Politics at the University of Birmingham and editor-in-chief of EA WorldView. He is a specialist in US and British foreign policy and international relations, especially the Middle East and Iran. Formerly he worked as a journalist in the US, writing for newspapers including the Guardian and The Independent and was an essayist for The New Statesman before he founded EA WorldView in November 2008.